Managing Recreational Mountain Biking in Wellington Park, Tasmania, Australia

Abstract

The management of recreational mountain biking is examined in this paper, based on. the findings of social and environmental research undertaken in Wellington Park, near Hobart, Tasmania. A review of existing research on the impacts of off-road mountain biking on the physical environment and on other recreational users is presented, followed by the findings of a questionnaire survey of mountain bikers and other park users and an environmental impact study of mountain biking. The questionnaire survey results (n = 255) revealed that conflicts between mountain bikers and other recreational users of Wellington Park were uncommon and there was considerable tolerance for mixed use of tracks. The concerns of non-bikers were mostly about bicycles travelling at excessive speed and not giving an approach warning. A physical impact study, which measured changes in track surface elevation under different conditions, revealed no significant difference between the level of impacts caused by mountain bikers and walkers under the conditions tested. Riding on wet sites and up steep hills and skidding were shown to have significantly greater levels of impacts than riding on flat, dry sites. User education and suitable track maintenance regimes are suggested as the favoured options for managing the main areas of concern relating to off-road mountain biking, namely environmental damage, safety issues and quality of experience.

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